Lighter with combustible pellets



July 4, 1950 LETTL 2,513,656

LIGHTER WITH COMBUSTIBLE PELLETS Filed Jan. 29, 1948 |.i INVENTOR JosEPH F LETTL ATTORNEYS PATENT oFFlcE r IGH ERwne-eo e sne m I .Joseph F Z Lettl New York, 1N. Y.

1 '1 c 1 ilIhis invention relatesto a new and'improved lighter containing ignitable" pellets and more particularly to a lighter of this type in ,which the pellets are mechanically pushed forward to the point of combustion and on their way thereto' become ignited by friction on: a suitable friction-surface; --t v ;;I n'the known lighters of this type-,owingto ,-'permanent. abrasive action among-xeach other, the pellets are prematurely convertedrinto. pulverized form, in whichthey cannot be ignited on the friction surface. Moreover, the presence yof loosely stored ignitionpellets and highly combustible powder of the pellets in the :lighter, do ;not,comply-with fireprevention regulations. ,-It is an object-of the. present invention toprovide a'lighter of the above-mentionedity erin FWhiCh the pellets are assembled and kept under ;conditions substantially preventing pulverization -of the pellets. 1 l

Another object'ofthe present invention is to 1 provide a lighter, in whichthe pelletsare assembled toa stick :or thedike, but are easilyseparablefromeaohother.;.. 1 w v It is alsoan object-of the present invention to provide: a lighter which can vbeoperated by, one hand without the use of liquid or gaseous fuel and without the application of wick 'flint .or the like. H Y Other objects and the advantages of themvention' will be apparent we from the appended gclaims and-the following specification andthe drawings .which'illustrate by. way of example but without limitationa :preferred embodiment of the invention.

In the drawings 7 Figure 1 is a perspective view of the assembled lighter embodying my invention, containing an upper part and a lower part; igure 2 illustrates theupperpart with the lower part removed;

Figure 3 illustrates the lower part of the lighter with parts broken away;

Figure 4 shows a series of igniting pellets assembled to form a stick, while Figure 5 shows an individual pellet; i g 1 '1 Figure 6 illustrates a feeding mechanism comprising elements I4, I 5 and i6 and denotedin the specification and claims as the climbero't,

, P Figure 7 is a sectional view o'f the upper part of the lighter, with certain parts broken away;

Figure 8 is a perspective view of the pellet carrier l'l'and parts associated therewith, and "Figure '9 is a sectional view of slide 1 arranged on the lower part of the lighter.

r i "Application January 29, 1943, se ial no, 5,080

t "6 Claims. (CL-67+?) As will be understood from the drawings, particularly Figure l, the lighter is made in the form of fountain-pen like container, and consists of an upper part and a lower part which can be readily separated and connected by a bayonet socket construction. Figure 2 illustrates the u'pper'part of the lighter withdrawn from the lower part and containing the ignition device and the combustion spot. Fastened to this'uppersection is the pellet container l3,-"|3, which also serves as a guiding" device for the feeding mechanism shown in Figure 6. This mechanism contains elements l4, l5, Hi to be described in detail further below and is briefly denoted'hereinafter and in the claims as the climber. j i? "'As shown in Figure 3, the lower sleeve-like part oi the lighter houses two tubular racks H, I2, which are adapted tosnugly embrace sleeve 13, 13' serving as the container for the ignition pellets 20. These two racks are'displ'aced by "relativeto the individual range of teeth and their edges are spaced for a distance sufficient forpermittingentrance of guide elements IS, IS of'c1imberl4, during the opening and refilling of the lighter. Upon assembling and closing the lighterby applying the upper part to the lower part and twisting the bayonet-socket; the previotisly open toothed racks form a continuous range of holes. Rack II is rigidly fastened to part I, while rack 12 can be shifted upward and ''downward by actuating slide 1, for the height *of onesing-Ie ignition pellet,"whereby the climber when moving upward will push up the whole -r'iile'of pelletsby the height of one pellet, and

F upon"down'ward movement of slide 1 comes to restwithin the next higher'tooth of the 'racks. Figure 6 illustrates the climber l4 comprising two laterallyprojecting guide blocks i5, I6 and an extension spring 23. Figure? shows the upper half of the lighter without the ignition pellet container. This upper half consists. of hood 2, the -later'ally collapsible ignition fixture'3, which on its insidecarries a fluted or otherwise roughened surface or a chemical coating along which the ignitionipelletsare moved in frictional contact, thereby causing ignition of the pellet. Further- 'more, part 3 has a cam-like extension 21. which cooperates with part I! and, when pressed towards the center of the hood, expels the burnt ignition pellet. 'Sleeve i0 is fastened to'part l and in the assembled lighter parts [3, I3 rest 'i'nsleeve l0, safeguarding at the same tiniethe ex'a'ct position of the climber relative to the'tub'ular racks. As illustrated in Figur'e18, the upper part carries bearing brackets 5, 5 for the two If now in actuating the lighter the laterally arranged slide '1 provided with two grabs 1'8 and I9 is pressed upward, then on the one hand racks 22, 22 are pushed upward by means of'grab 1'9 which cooperates with lug We of the racks 12-2, v

22, and by their engagement with cogwheels 4, 4, upward swinging of clamp 1 and the pellet held by said clamp by 180 is brought about; during this swinging,;ignition of the pellet takes place,- for example by friction on the friction surface of the downward swinging part 3 -of :cap 2.

7. n "the other hand, simultaneously with this :step,--by-t-he action of the second grab 18 which :isj-fastened tosIide I, and engages the radial lug 48a of movable rack 12 from below, rack l-2, which provides .for the movement of climber I 4, isxc'aused to move upward by one tooth (equal :toithe height of a pellet).

Thus, 'by 'one single step (pressure of the finger) "the ignition pellet is brought with its 7 burning'ipor'tion to the upper opening of the container of the lighter and simultaneously the ipell'etrmagazine is pushed upward :by'the height of a pellet and thus brought again to the initial setting for the next ignition. If part 3, now in an outward extended position, is pushed --bafck into its initial position, the cam-like part 2| iattached to part 3 enters the diametrical slot ;of *clamp #17 thereby discharging the consumed or partly consumed pellet. The racks .22, .22 actuated by spring :24 will move downward and "turn clamp-l1 into its ready position.

The ignition pellets shown in Figure 5 consist ofarcontainer, preferably of metallic material, open at one-end, and filled with 'a combustible 1ma'tter, e. g. magnesium-alcoholate, methylated spirit in non-liquid form, organic :or inorganic fuels. The fuel charge proper is covered by .an ignition coating, which if *movedin frictional fcontactalong the frictionsurface ;of :part 3, becomes ignited. To the combustible matteryinvgredients causing the :flame to appearin dif- .fe'rent'hues of :color may be added. Further,-

the:f'orm of one unit with the climber,:i.ie.,-'as a freadyfor use outfit.

The "combustible com-pound of the pellets can also be ignited without the use :ofanignitable coating by-using a compound which is capable ofbeing ignited bycatalytic reaction. 7 Thefrrie- *tional face is treated-with a-catalytically acting material, such as catalytic platinum, catalytic aluminum or any :other suitable catalytic material, so that the gaseous surface which exists above the surface of the pellets willbe ignited flaythevcatalyst. i

What I claim is 1. Lighter with combustible pellets, comprising an outer two-part container consisting of an upper part and a lower part, a doubly slotted guide sleeve which is fastened to said upper part of the outer container and is adapted to receive the combustible pellets, a step by step switching mechanism comprising a climber, said combustible pellets resting -on said climber, a stationary: and a movable rack, thefteeth of which are arranged "in'front 'o'fthe slots of said sleeve,

and a laterally arranged slide provided with two grabs, upon the actuation of which on the one hand by means. off one of the grabs and a rack ,gear guided by said one grab, a clamp which grips the uppermost pellet from above is swung :upward:by;',under simultaneous ignition and thus places the burning pellet in the upper opening in safe distance from the pellet magazine,

to claim 1, having a combustible pellet maga'aine consisting of a continuous 'set' of easily combustible pellets'forming a'rod-like structure, said sa of -combustiblepelletsf'forrning a unit with "the climber of the step-tby-s'tep switching mechanism, said unit serving for-filling the lighter. Y

3Lighterwith'combustible pellets as --cla'imed in claim 1, the upper partof said lighter containirig a' cap ad'aptedto be assembled with' the outer container -of the lower part of the lighter, and'a swinging fricti'onal surface arranged o'n said cap onwhich the uppermost pellet gripped by the clarnp' is ignited by cau'sing it to pass under friction during its upward swinging-along said swinging frictional surface.

4. Lighter with combustible pellets, as claimed inclaim 1, inwhich' the-pellets contain a compound ignitable by contact with a catalytically acting materiaLsaid lighter "containing a frictional surface comprising said catalyticallyacti-rig material for ig-niting the pellet uponcontact withsaid-surface;

5. Combustible pellet for a lighter as claimed in claim 1, consisting of 'a'combustiblei'na'ss containing an admixture adapted to col'or-theflame. '6. A combustible pellet for a'lighter as claimed in claim 1, consistingfofacombustible mass containing an aroma substance.

JOSEPH F.

REFERENCES- crrnn v The following references are of record in' 'the file of this patent: I I v I I UNITEDQSTATES ATENTS Date 16.9 iGreatBjritain Jan, 1l,1t878 

